As Shawnee students set out to leave sunny Florida with memories of senior trip in Disney World fresh in their minds, they got a nice surprise. Kind of.
The students were set to fly back via Southwest Airlines, but after the company cancelled about 600 flights this weekend, 67 students weren’t going anywhere. Except back to Disney World, that is.
Southewest is paying for the displaced group to room at the Disney All-Star Movie Resort, where they’ve been staying for senior trip. According to Shawnee Principal Matt Campbell, students were given money for breakfast and two meal coupons for their extended stay.
Campbell said many of the students spent this morning at the water park and then went to Epcot on Disney’s tab this afternoon.
The fun officially ends tomorrow, though, as the students plan to depart from Orlando International Airport at 7 a.m. The flight is scheduled to arrive in Philadelphia at 9:35 a.m.
Students will return to Shawnee High School and finish the school day tomorrow. Parents were asked to drop off anything their children might need for the school day. Campbell said the extra time off won’t be counted as an absence.
Other than that, Campbell reports the trip went well.
“We had no issues, other than the weather on Wednesday and Thursday, but that did not seem to dampen their spirits,” he said.
Flight cancelations began on Friday when a 118-passenger flight from Phoenix to Sacramento diverted to Yuma, Ariz. due to loss of pressurization in the cabin. Upon safely landing in Yuma, the flight crew discovered a hole in the top of the aircraft. The carrier decided to keep a subset of its Boeing 737 fleet out of the flying schedule to begin an aggressive inspection effort.
According to Southwest’s Web site, the company cancelled an additional 70 flights from its Monday schedule of 3,400 plus scheduled departures as the airline continues to inspect aircraft. As of this afternoon, 57 aircraft have been inspected and returned to service with the remainder expected to be finished by Tuesday.
Update: Shawnee students have landed safely in Philadelphia are headed back to Shawnee High School to finish out the school day.
